Buah oh Buah!

Dengan teknologi yang canggih serta sistem pengangkutan yang pantas di darsa warsa ini, boleh dikatakan semua jenis buah-buahan bermusim boleh didapati sepanjang masa di mana-mana ceruk rantau di dunia ini. Namun begitu, tidak ada yang lebih nikmat daripada merasai keenakan memakan buah-buahan segar yang tidak melalui proses pengawetan atau penggunaan hormon. Lebih-lebih lagi mengecapi kemanisan buah-buahan yang masak di pokok. Bagi mereka yang peka dengan alam sekitar dan mementingkan kesegaran, buah-buahan tempatan adalah yang terbaik.

Bagi peminat buah-buahan yang berada di negara empat musim, musim panas merupakan masa yang amat dinantikan. Ini kerana pada musim ini pelbagai jenis buah-buahan boleh didapati dengan harga yang murah. Di Australia, musim bunga telahpun bermula, dan bunga-bunga ini akan berkembang menjadi buah-buahan yang enak di musim panas kelak. Walaubagaimanapun, beberapa jenis buah telah pun mula dijual, dan harganya semakin murah. Antara yang mudah didapati ialah buah peach, nectarine dan aprikot.

Buah-buahan ini terdiri daripada keluarga yang sama iaitu prunus dan ia mempunyai ciri-ciri yang hampir sama seperti isi yang lembut dan berair serta mempunyai satu biji atau stone/pit di tengahnya. Mereka juga dikenali sebagai stone fruits.

Buah peach kadangkala disebut sebagai queen of fruits, merupakan buah yang cantik. Kulitnya mempunyai bulu-bulu halus seakan-akan baldu dan berwarna kuning kemerahan. Isinya ada yang berwarna putih dan ada yang berwarna kuning. Buah yang cukup masak mengeluarkan bau yang harum.

Buah nectarine kelihatan seakan-akan peach, namun kulitnya licin dan tidak berbulu. Saiznya kecil sedikit berbanding peach. Walaupun bau dan rasanya seakan-akan sama dengan peach, ia lebih berasid daripada peach dan isinya berwarna kuning, putih atau kadangkala pink.

Buah yang kurang ranum boleh digrill diatas api atau dicelur di dalam air panas. Namun peach dan nectarine lebih enak dimakan mentah. Semasa memilih buah-buahan ini, tekan sedikit untuk memastikan ianya tidak terlalu keras, tetapi jangan terlalu lembik. Ia tidak tahan lama dalam simpanan. Buah yang belum ranum boleh disimpan pada suhu bilik untuk dibiarkan lembut selama 1-2 hari. Buah yang masak boleh disimpan di dalam peti sejuk dan dibungkkus dengan plastik. Basuh buah sebaik sahaja sebelum memakannya, tidak perlu basuh sebelum disimpan kerana kelembapan akan menyebabkan isinya melembik dengan lebih cepat.

Sejenis buah lagi dari keluarga yang sama ialah apricot. Buah ini lebih kecil berbanding peach dan nectarine dan baunya harum apabila masak ranum. Warna kulitnya kuning-jingga dan sedikit berbulu halus dengan bayangan merah jambu apabila masak. Isinya tidak lembut seperti peach dan nectarine, manis dan harum, serta mempunyai hanya sedikit air. Apricot tidak terus masak jika diperam, oleh itu pilih buah yang betul-betul masak dan boleh dimakan terus. Elakkan membeli buah yang masih mempunyai warna hijau atau yang telah mula berkedut.

Buah-buahan ini semulajadinya kaya dengan vitamin terutama vitamin A, B dan C serta mempunyai kandungan kalori yang rendah. Selain dari itu ianya juga membekalkan fiber atau serat yang amat diperlukan oleh tubuh badan. Buah-buahan segar lain yang boleh didapati dengan mudah dan murah di musim ini ialah plum, prun, ceri, pelbagai jenis anggur serta mangga. Nikmatilah buah-buahan ini kerana anda pasti akan merinduinya kelak apabila ianya menjadi berkurangan dan semakin mahal, lebih-lebih lagi apabila anda telah pulang ke tanah air!

German Measles

Last Wednesday, we noticed there were some faint red spots on Aiman's face. The night before his body was a little bit warm, 'dedaq' kata orang utara. Then the spots appears to be like rashes and it continued to grow. So yesterday, after 3 days the symptoms appeared, we went to Ashby Medical Centre just to confirm that it was measles, and yes it's German Measles.

The doctor said that this type of measles does not make you really sick and it will goes away without anything to be worried. No wonder Aiman was as active as usual, just a little bit cranky and lost his appetite. Nevertheless, he still drinks his milk and likes to eat fruits as usual.


Measles is a very infectious disease. So we decided not to go out and just stay at home until Aiman is totally recover. Today we are going to miss two Raya open houses, and we might be canceling our plan to have an open house at our place too. Just don't want to jeopardize other people, particularly young mothers who might be pregnant and babies.

An excerpt from http://www.medicalonline.com.au/medical/child/german_measles.htm :

"Rubella, or German Measles as it is commonly known is a viral disease transmitted by the inhalation of infected droplets from the air.

German Measles can be transmitted by the infected person to others for one week before the onset of the rash. The incubation period is 14 - 21 days with an average of about 6 days before the appearance of symptoms. One atttack usually confers permanent immunity.

The main feature of the disease is the appearance of a fine pink rash often preceded by mild symptoms of a general virus infection, a slight fever, conjunctivitis and a general feeling of not being well. Adults, especially young women, may develop joint pains

. The rash starts on the face and spreads to the trunk and extremities and may only be present for a matter of hours to 3 days. It may also be so faint as to be missed altogether.

The treatment of rubella consists mainly of treating the symptoms which may be very mild indeed. Aspirin may be all that is required. If you are concerned that you or your child may have caught rubella then your doctor can have you tested for positive signs of the disease and he can also put your mind at rest by establishing the presence of antibodies which guarantees your immunity to complications particularly in pregnancy."

Raya Open House

Since it is still in the month of Syawal, every weekend there will be someone's open house. Talking about open house, here in Sydney, ‘open house’ means that particular property is on sale, and it is open for inspection for prospective buyers during the open house day. Whereas among Malaysian, it is the day when we open the door of our houses to people to join the feast and enjoy the celebration, not matter who. Nowadays, it has became a tradition in Malaysia for every culture to do so during their annual celebration particularly Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Deepavali; the biggest celebration rejoice by Malay, Chinese and Indian ethnics.

The tradition of open house does not only practiced by people in Malaysia, but it continues when they are overseas. Here in Sydney, the same thing occurs. Although it is usually not fully ‘opened’, cause we normally choose people we would like to invite to our ‘semi’-open houses, the tradition brings happiness among Malaysians and provide the opportunity to meet fellow Malaysians that we might not know before. It is a good platform to revive our culture, especially to inculcate and make sure the younger generation aware about their own traditional celebration.

It is a good practice if we sincerely and open heartedly invite people to our house to have party and share many kinds of food together. This is the time we can enjoy ourselves and talk about our much-loved home country, and forget about research, assignment and so on for a moment. The food, not forget to mention, are the main attraction and with the rich cuisine of Malaysia, there are a lot of different kinds of food to enjoy and try. As food is my passion, I normally try to taste all kind of food, especially the one that is not familiar to me. This is usually the main cause people gain weight after Raya, following the hard work losing some kilos during Ramadan fasting month.

Anyhow, it has been more than a fortnight we are in the month of Syawal. But I reckon this year we do not received as many invitations as last year. I wonder whether there are not many people doing open house, or we are just being forgotten eh. Yea, there's a lot of new students that we don't really know, or not really close to. And the old batches are getting smaller, many has gone back for good. And there's a rumour that the new batches does not get along very well with the old one, huh. I thought that only happens in high school, but here? All with families, matured age and most are the intellects of the nations.

Thanks to those who had invited us to their houses. Ours? I know people are questioning that. We will think of it and inform later if ever we would like to have one, hehe. Even though open houses are still happening on weekends, we must get back to WORK!

1 Syawal 1429H

It is mid week, Wednesday. Sydney's inhabitants went to work as usual. However for Muslims, it was the Eid Al-Fitr celebration. As previous years, we went to Malaysia Hall for the Eid prayer. We woke up at 5am, get ready and had a breakfast with my rendang dan ketupat instant. Than at 6.25am, we started our journey to MyHall, about 25km from home. It was still early, but there were so many cars on the road that I thought we couldn't make it on time for the prayer scheduled at 7.30am. But anyhow Allah knows best, we arrived around 7.15am, and we joined the crowd for takbir. The prayer started at about 10min to 8am. After prayer there were a little food prepared under the tent, such as lemang, rendang and pasta. The real celebration will be this Saturday where lots of food will be there.

We went to visit our friends until night, about 6 houses altogether. Enjoyed a lot of different kinds of food, went back exhausted. The following day Elyn went to the Uni, while me and reena just stayed at home, finishing hatever food left in the fridge. And every weekend untill Syawal ends, there will be open houses among the Malay communities around Sydney...

Whatever it is, how happy we look in the picture, I miss my home, my mom and dad, my family....